Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Catfish Ban

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BOGOTA, May 2 2005 (IPS) - The Colombian rural development institute, INCODER, is banning from May 1 to 30 the fishing, storage, sale and transport of the tiger shovelnose catfish (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum) in the Magdalena River basin, which crosses national territory from north to south. A second ban period for protecting this fish population is slated for Sep. 15 to Oct. 15.

INCODER general manager Arturo Vega told Tierramérica the catfish bans are one of the options the government has for protecting the species' reproductive period, thus allowing the normal development of the fish and maintain the population.